MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Fatah Central Committee member Hussein al-Sheikh informed Russian Presidential Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Wednesday about Palestinian efforts to end the crisis with Israel, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement after their telephone conversation.

"Hussein al-Sheikh shared his assessments and considerations in connection with the escalation of armed confrontation between the Israelis and Palestinians, and also informed about the efforts made by the leadership of the Palestinian National Authority to overcome the current crisis," the Foreign Ministry said.

"The Russian side emphasized the objective to immediately cease any hostilities and the need for subsequent direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on the well-known international legal basis, including the 'two-state solution’ for Palestine and Israel coexisting in peace and security within the 1967 borders," the ministry added.

The talks were held at the Palestinian request.

The Palestinian radical groups located in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army have been exchanging strikes since May 10. The escalation was sparked by the clashes at Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem in early May, after the Israeli court had ruled to evict Arab families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Palestinian militants have fired more than 3,500 rockets into Israel, in response the Israeli army have bombed hundreds of targets in the coastal enclave.